84 a short history of the united states
of South Carolina, “& has been Saved,” thanks to Henry Clay. With-
out bloodshed or dismemberment of the country, Missouri entered the
Union. But an obvious problem remained. Secession may have been
avoided; still, the central question of whether Congress had the right
to prohibit slavery in the territories had not been resolved to the satis-
faction of either the North or the South. It would plague the country
for the next forty years. But as Abraham Lincoln noted years later,
Henry Clay made the difference. As long as Clay remained alive, Lin-
coln said, he could always find the compromise to keep the country
from rushing into civil war and the dissolution of the Union.
President Monroe signed the several bills that admitted Maine and
Missouri as the twenty-third and twenty-fourth states comprising the
United States, but he had little to do with bringing about this historic
settlement. He left domestic affairs pretty much to Congress, where
Clay played the most dominant role. This freed the President to con-
centrate on foreign affairs, in which he scored several successes. He
recognized the inde pendence of those Latin American nations that
had escaped Spanish rule and gained the approval of Congress. The
Republic of Colombia was recognized on June 19 , 1822 ; Mexico on De-
cember 12 , 1822 ; Chile and Argentina on January 27 , 1823 ; Brazil on
May 26 , 1824 ; the Federation of Central American States on August 4 ,
1824 ; and Peru on May 2 , 1826. He approved the treaty signed with
Rus sia that fixed the southern boundary of Alaska, a Russian posses-
sion, at 54 ° 40 '; he agreed to the acquisition of Florida and the settle-
ment of the western boundary of the Louisiana Purchase; and in his
annual message to Congress on December 2 , 1823 , he announced what
has been called the Monroe Doctrine. In justice it must be pointed out
that his secretary of state, John Quincy Adams, served as the principal
negotiator in all these successes.
When the members of the Qua druple or Holy Alliance (France,
Austria, Prussia, and Russia) agreed in 1822 at the Congress of Verona
to restore King Ferdinand VII of Spain to full authority after he had
surrendered and accepted the demands of those who insisted on a con-
stitutional monarchy, Great Britain became concerned about such a
policy and especially fearful that the Holy Alliance might attempt to
restore Spanish control of its lost possessions in South America. En-
gland enjoyed economic advantages in dealing with inde pendent South